Friday, May 29, 2015

We enjoy honoring those who've paid the ultimate price on Memorial Day. This year we found an event close by—at Green Valley Cemetery—mile and a half away. We decided to incorporate our daily exercise by running to the location and running back (at least as far as Starbucks located between our house and the cemetery).

After finishing my Starbucks' hot green tea, I harvested a cup of blueberries from our backyard blueberry bush. "I'm gonna make a dessert with these," I said to my husband Bob.

And this is what I came up with. Simple. Fast. Utterly delicious! I hope you enjoy it. Double or triple the recipe to make more servings.

Blueberry Crisp

from Chris Pedersen

yield 2 servings

category Dessert

cuisine Vegan

ingredients

1C fresh blueberries

1/2 Tbsp coconut oil

1/4 C quinoa flour

3 dates, diced

3 walnuts, diced

directions

1. Preheat toaster oven on convection to 350°.

2. Melt the coconut oil and mix with quinoa flour, dates and walnuts.

3. Add half of mixture to two ramikins.

4. Add half of the blueberries to each ramikin and top with remaining flour mixture.

5. Bake for 15 minutes.

6. Add scoop of coconut ice cream (optional). Serve.

The ingredients are all items I have in my pantry. I even have fresh frozen blueberries in the freezer. No shopping necessary. That's how you learn to cook without a recipe—check out what you have on hand and make something up. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Believe me I've made plenty.

Most mistakes amount to the finished recipe not tasting as good as originally envisioned (after all we see a picture and skim the recipe to determine what looks good). Big deal! Consider the healthy ingredients used (Right? You only make healthy recipes), which fuel your body with great nutrients. Yeah I know food should taste good, but really shouldn't our primary goal be eating to live? Not living to eat! Think about it.